Chamber Dashboard: Utah still showing resilience amid national uncertainty

The Salt Lake Chamber, in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, has released the October 2023 Roadmap to Prosperity Economic Dashboard to support business leaders in understanding impacts on Utah’s economy. This tool prioritizes key data on the state’s economic outlook and actionable context for decision-makers.

“While concerns of inflation and economic uncertainty continue nationally, Utah remains steady with its high labor force participation and low unemployment,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “The trends highlighted in the latest dashboard demonstrate the business community’s continued strength and ability to lead amidst uncertainties.”

Three essential insights reported by the chamber from the October 2023 Roadmap to Prosperity Dashboard are:

1. Utah consumer sentiment fell 9.4 percent while U.S. sentiment fell 6 percent in October. After a slight uptick in September, Utah’s consumer sentiment dropped from 76.3 to 69.1 in October. U.S. sentiment has fallen three consecutive months as economic uncertainty continues to impact Americans.

2. Utah’s median home sales price remains somewhat steady in recent months. After a 2023 peak in June, Utah’s median home sales price dropped slightly and has since remained level. High mortgage rates and limited supply limit potential home buyers’ ability to purchase homes.

3. Inflation continues. September inflation persisted at 3.7 percent, the same rate as reported in August, but lower than the 8.2 percent rate seen in September 2022. Several factors, including higher prices for labor-intensive services, continue to hold inflation higher than the Fed’s 2 percent goal.

The dashboard is updated monthly, providing essential insights, tracking timely and leading measures and sharing pertinent indicators, the chamber said. This provides leaders with critical and timely information to make informed decisions.

“Utah’s economy continues to outperform the nation, reinforced by low unemployment and high labor force participation,” said Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. “These positive trends support our overall outlook while Utahns confront record housing prices, mixed consumer sentiment and political uncertainty in Washington as major fiscal deadlines approach.”

The Roadmap to Prosperity Dashboard is available online at https://slchamber.com/resources/roadmap-dashboard/.